In 1995 when Matt Pryor made his name with the pop punk band The Get Up Kids, no one would have ever expected him to slip into a side project with a country rock flavor.
Yet that's just what that sneaky bastard did when he formed The New Amsterdams four years later.
Their tour starts just one day before it hits the Mohawk Place, and Pryor, lead singer and guitarist, remains calm throughout this time in order to polish his music.
"We practice and just try to be mellow," Pryor said in an interview with The Spectrum. "I mean, if you are going to spend hours in a van, you're going to want to get as much sleep as possible before the tour,"
The New Amsterdams released their debut album in 2000 titled "Never You Mind" on Vagrant Records. While the label favors rock more than country, their latest release "Story Like a Scar" has received plenty of praise from fans and critics alike- even after the band decided to simmer down their style.
With the departure of his original pop punk roots, Pryor stays committed to his love for the record.
"I would never want to change the record. If anything, I would have made it longer. But, for us as a band, it's like one long document. A Polaroid."
Pryor has been loitering around the music scene for over ten years, and it seems like he has been present for every format change, from cassettes to CDs to MP3's.
"The music industry has to evolve. It sucks for most independent record stores nowadays," he said. "What really sucks is the lack of CD artwork nowadays. Artwork at one point used to be really important."
The artwork is one of the first things someone will notice about The Amsterdams' record. Despite the changes in the way most people listen to music, Pryor still believes that a lot about the music industry has stayed the same.
"I started in '97, of course things are different, the bars are dirtier," Pryor said. "With the Internet, things are a lot easier though. If we have to, we can use things like MapQuest to look up directions,"
In 1997 when the Get Up Kids first got together, there was no such thing as MySpace or PureVolume, but nowadays if a band doesn't have a page with one or the other, it might as well be invisible.
"The Internet is a really helpful information source (for young musicians). I can't even measure how important it is," Pryor said.
The New Amsterdams' record came out almost a year ago, so those hoping to hear new material on this tour might be disappointed.
"We're going out as a trio this time," he said. "We had an adjustable band member who couldn't make most of this tour, so we decided to tour as a trio. We've been re-working all of our songs as a trio, and a lot of the older songs work really well."
Don't worry though, The Amsterdams will shell out plenty of new material soon enough. They've scheduled to release a double disc entitled "Killed or Cured" as well as some older material never unleashed to the public. Pryor said that the album is two-thirds completed and will be on its way in April.
Also in April, Pryor will release an album entitled "If You Ever See An Owl" under the side project the Terrible Twos, which is essentially a record for the entire family to enjoy.
"We're pretty excited," he said. "We've been trapped in record negotiation limbo for a while. It is a lot of fun."
Despite his constant affairs with side projects, Pryor's main commitment is to The New Amsterdams and his family.
Pryor has been around the music industry for a long time, and he certainly knows how to put on a good show. So how would someone feel after leaving The New Amsterdams show on Friday?
"Awash with ecstasy. Not the drug. A feeling of euphoria," said Pryor.
The New Amsterdams are coming to the Mohawk Place this Friday at 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
